Sports in brief

RIO DE JANEIRO — FIFA ethics investigators confirmed Wednesday that they are formally investigating the indicted head of Brazilian soccer, just days after he met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Marco Polo del Nero has remained president of the Brazilian Football Confederation despite being among the officials indicted last year as part of an American investigation into soccer corruption.

Del Nero also remains free to hold positions of power in soccer, although FIFA's ethics division has now announced it has been investigating the former executive committee member since December.

"We are able to confirm that there are formal proceedings going on against Marco Polo del Nero," the investigatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee told the Associated Press.

Del Nero is yet to face the racketeering and money laundering charges in New York along with the other suspects in the far-reaching U.S. investigation into soccer.

COURTING MESSI: Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza traveled to Spain to try to convince Lionel Messi to stay on the national team. Messi, 29, a record five-time world player of the year, said in June that "the national team is over for me" after Argentina's loss in the Copa America final.

ET CETERA

AUTOS: IndyCar and Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., have reached a two-year extension that will keep the open-wheel series at the track through 2018. The dates were not announced.

CYCLING: The world's best teams have decided to boycott the team time trial event at the world championships in Qatar in October in protest. The teams have been at odds with the International Cycling Union for months, and the WorldTour calendar was the final blow. The schedule for next year has increased to 37 events on three continents, and WorldTour teams are required to compete in all of them.

TENNIS:Novak Djokovic dropped out of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati with a sore left wrist. The Masters event is scheduled to start Sunday.

Without getting into specifics – especially the who and the where – Rays officials are for the first time talking optimistically about making a trade before the winter meetings end Thursday.Speaking at around 5:15, senior VP Chaim Bloom s...

UPDATE, 5:55: Trade talks apparently picked up this afternoon, perhaps related to previous activity by other teams, and for first time Rays officials sound like something could happen tonight."At this point today, some of those conversations are movi...

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Alex Colome claimed he was just showing good social media manners Tuesday night in following four Cardinals-related Instagram accounts since they were saying nice things about him.In doing so, whether for that reason or another, Co...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s difficult to call a volleyball program that has been to the Final Four eight times an underdog, especially the way Florida rallied to beat Southern California and punch its latest ticket. Yet of the four schools descending on ...

ATLANTA — Tommy Nobis, the first player drafted by the expansion Falcons and a hard-hitting middle linebacker who was never fully recognized for his talents on a struggling franchise that failed to make the playoffs during his long career, died Wedne...

Alex Corddry won't be back on Fox Sports Sun's Tampa Bay Rays telecasts.Corddry completed a one-year contract with Fox, serving as the pre-, post- and in-game reporter. She also covers college football for ESPN and does freelance work in the Wa...

SOCCERMan city posts record 15th straight victorySWANSEA, Wales — David Silva scored twice to help Premier League leader Manchester City beat last-place Swansea 4-0 on Wednesday for a 15th straight victory, a record run in the 129-year history of Eng...

CLEARWATER — When Anthony Klemmer took over as girls basketball coach at Countryside five years ago, he looked at the banner hanging in the gym. "Girls Basketball. District Champs. 1993.""That’s it?" Klemmer said. "Just 1993?"His goal was to add year...